Agent: No tampering in Maddon move to Cubs
Maybe we haven’t heard the last from Joe Maddon’s Rays-to-Cubs leap. (USATSI)
As you are likely aware, Joe Maddon recently opted out of his deal with the Rays and soon thereafter agreed to become manager of the Cubs. Regarding that change of employers, here’s what Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times recently wrote:
The Rays remain convinced that the Cubs enticed Maddon to opt out of the final year of his contract last week rather than reaching out afterward. As a result, they are still considering filing tampering charges or a complaint to get Major League Baseball to investigate the matter, with any potential compensation (A fine? A player?) determined by the commissioner’s office.
Here’s what Maddon’s agent, Alan Nero, had to say Sunday on Jim Bowden’s radio show about those tacit accusations:
Alan Nero told us that the Cubs would not talk to them until they had a copy of his opt out clause & permission from Commish Office XM 89
— Jim Bowden (@JimBowden_ESPN) November 2, 2014
There’s more in Bowden’s Twitter timeline.
Here’s the relevant part of Cubs president Theo Epstein’s statement when the team announced the firing of outgoing manager Rick Renteria:
Last Thursday, we learned that Joe Maddon – who may be as well suited as anyone in the industry to manage the challenges that lie ahead of us – had become a free agent. We confirmed the news with Major League Baseball, and it became public knowledge the next day.
On a certain level, this is a case of “what would you expect him to say,” in which “him” is Maddon’s agent and, on the other side, Epstein. All that said, it’s probably going to be difficult for the Rays to prove that the Cubs materially tampered, at least to the degree needed to land any kind of compensation.
Still and yet, consider this to be: Developing!
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